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Out of Istanbul - Category Archive

Tuesday

For the past 24 years, Cemil Tuncay has wheeled his small metal cart to the biweekly produce pazar in Edirne. He sets up shop around noon, lighting coals under what can be described as massive, torpedo-shaped sausages. Kokoreç is a simple fast food made from bits of sheep leftover from butchering, stuffed into intestines to the bursting point. It is a one-man operation. With the exception of his wife (who sometimes helps him clean and prepare the meat), Tuncay goes it alone. His mustachioed face is often grizzled with a little bit of stubble and worn by years’ worth of fragrant grill smoke. He is tall and stoops over a bit to prepare each order, doing so with a jaunty smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

There are really only two options to choose from: half or full portion. The standard sandwich features tomatoes and meat seasoned with kekik (an oregano-like herb), spicy red pepper flakes and salt. If you like, you can drink ayran as well, but that’s about it. The meat is fatty and sumptuous, gliding over your tongue with a peppery nip that screams for more.

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Hanging On to History: Edible Nostalgia in Samatya
no responses - Posted
05.08.18
That much of the past seems to stick to Samatya is a marvel in Istanbul, a city being rebuilt and “restored” at an alarming pace.
First, there’s the question of its name. Occupying a stretch of the Marmara Sea and squeezed between the old city walls and Kumkapı, an area home to a rotating cast of eclectic restaurants, the neighborhood still ... continue

Spring Surprises: Skewering the First Fruits in Istanbul
no responses - Posted
04.25.18
It was the first of April and an absolutely pristine Istanbul spring day, the kind where one can break a slight sweat walking up a hill then catch a cool breeze in a nearby patch of shade. Returning to the city from a lovely weekend on Büyükada, we were smitten with spring and wanted to indulge in its finest offerings.
In ... continue

Farewell, Pando: An Istanbul Culinary Legend Passes On
no responses - Posted
04.16.18
It’s Saturday around lunchtime and business as usual in the bustling Beşiktaş Çarşı neighborhood, as crowds of mostly younger people fill the narrow streets. Down on Mumcu Bakkal Sokak, a pedestrian-only street lined with miniscule shops, a line around the block has been formed by those eager to get into one of the city’s best döner spots.
For many of those ... continue

Bağdat Ocakbaşı: Licensed to Grill
no responses - Posted
04.09.18
Istanbul’s T1 tramway is relatively pleasant if you can find a seat, but borders on unbearable if you are on your feet.
Back in 2015, we wrote about a trip we took from the line’s first stop all the way to one of its last, which lies way out in the district of Güngören. By the time the tram has made ... continue

Dose & Istos Café: Greek Revival
no responses - Posted
03.30.18
A café at its best is so much more than the sum of its parts: it’s a place where people can easily mingle, share ideas, and dertleşmek, or commiserate over their troubles, all while imbibing caffeine. At the same time, it’s a place where visitors might feel an invisible thread of common beliefs connecting them, an unspoken camaraderie, even if ... continue

Back to the Land: Urban Turks Tackle Rural Life
no responses - Posted
03.23.18
When Buket Ulukut first moved from Istanbul to a rural plot of land in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey, she was leading a double life.
“I’d be taking calls from clients in Europe while out amidst the rows of peppers and eggplants, hoping they didn’t hear the rooster crowing in the background,” says Ulukut, who worked in ... continue

Semt Pazarları, Civic Life Perfected
no responses - Posted
03.09.18
“Two kilos five liraaa! Two kilos five liraaa!” bellowed a young and exuberant vendor of tomatoes to the ongoing stream of frugal-minded shoppers making their way through the snaking Tarlabaşı Sunday Market.
Hundreds of sellers of fresh produce, dairy, seafood, kitchenware, clothing, smuggled tobacco, jewelry, fresh baked goods and numerous other items set up side by side in the central Istanbul ... continue

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Ask CB: Eating in Cappadocia? no responses - Posted 04.13.15
Dear Culinary Backstreets,
I'm planning to visit Cappadocia this summer, and while I have my sightseeing and walking itinerary all lined up, I would love to know where I can find the best places to eat in the region. Can you help?
Cappadocia suffers from what I’d call Sultanahmet Syndrome, which means ...continue

Organ Harvest in Turkey’s Liver Capital no responses - Posted 04.06.15
The city of Edirne sits on the borders of Bulgaria and Greece in the far northwestern and European portion of Turkey. Once the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Edirne has been occupied for thousands of years, dating back to the Romans and Thracians before them. While no longer the seat ...continue

Slow Cheese in Bodrum no responses - Posted 03.26.15
The Yaveş Gari Bodrum chapter of the international Slow Food movement organized the first Slow Cheese Festival of Turkey, which took place March 5 to 8 this year. We were lucky enough to experience it for ourselves.
Local food cultures and small-scale food producers everywhere are at risk of disappearing due ...continue

CB on the Road: Join Us in Gaziantep! 1 response - Posted 02.28.15
We are very happy to announce that in May we’ll be offering a springtime edition of “Culinary Secrets of Gaziantep,” our three-day eating and hands-on cooking adventure in Turkey’s gastronomic mecca.
An ancient city not far from Turkey’s southern border, a meeting point between the Arab Middle East and Turkish Anatolia, ...continue

A Revived Grape Harvest in Thrace no responses - Posted 11.25.14
Zeynep Arca Şallıel had a successful career in advertising in Istanbul, but in 1995 she decided to take on a daunting new challenge: taking part in the revival of small-scale viniculture in the ancient winemaking region of Thrace. “I wanted to do something with soil, something that mattered a little bit ...continue

CB on the Road: Fırtına Valley, a Garden of Eden on the Black Sea no responses - Posted 08.29.14
Misty, lush Fırtına Valley is worlds away from Istanbul’s concrete urban hustle. It’s a land of cascading waterfalls, rushing rivers, wild edibles and precipitous hillsides covered with glossy tea bushes. We came to escape Istanbul’s infamous August heat and learn about the region’s special foods. After a week, we had stomped ...continue

CB on the Road: Springtime with Antep’s Top (Home) Chef no responses - Posted 05.19.14
The cuisine of Antep deserves every bit of the praise it receives. In the city known as the gastronomic temple of Turkey, the world’s most refined kebab traditions are obsessively guarded by a cadre of traditional ustas in this southeastern Turkish city’s grilling institutions. Baklava workshops are steeped in an ...continue

Istanbul Eats on the Road: NYC’s Bi Lokma 12 responses - Posted 07.10.12
Whenever we find ourselves far from Turkey’s shores for any extended period of time, nostalgic hunger pangs soon set in. Sure, we quickly develop a hankering for a juicy Adana kebab or even for the simple taste of a simit washed down with some strong tea. But what we really ...continue

Istanbul Eats on the Road: Rotterdam’s Multiculti “Kapsalon” 3 responses - Posted 05.24.12
In Rotterdam, one of Europe’s most culturally mixed cities, you’d expect a more diverse street food scene. The Rotterdam diet does embrace shwarma, Vietnamese spring rolls and Turkish lahmacun, but then Dutchifies the food by dousing it with liberal squirts of mayo. Due to cultural assimilation or by catering to ...continue